Ice
by orange1996x
Summary: A bit of romance and slightly complex relationships based around figure skating in the wintery short story.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, if anyone reads my stuff consistently, I bet you'll be like why are you putting up another story without finishing the others. Well I wrote this all within the past few hours and really liked it, I'm not planning to have this last long, a few chapters maybe. Hope you all like it. Please review and thanks for reading.

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"Have you still not asked her out?" Chad Danforth asked as he leant against the counter on the guest side and sat on a bar stool.

Troy Bolton looked over at the ice skating rink which was on the ground floor of the huge dome shaped building. All of the food huts and shops relating to ice skating rested slightly above the ground floor, unlike a shopping mall, providing an overview of the entire rink.

Troy pouted a little, "Nope. We went out once at the end of summer just before her Freshman year and she comes up for food sometimes so we talk but she's here more than I am," He shrugged.

"She's good," Chad nodded as he watched her.

"Yeah, she's sick," Troy agreed. Troy's blue eyes followed the toned figure dressed in a tight pair of leggings and a zip up fleece doing spins, jumps and gliding across the ice.

"So good, does she compete?" Chad asked Troy, turning back around.

Troy shrugged, "I dunno," His attention turning back to his best friend.

Brown and blue eyes shot to the thud they heard from the rink. They saw the girl who was the topic of conversation on the floor on her side.

/

"Ugh!" Gabriella Montez grumbled, rolling onto her back taking a deep breath.

"Babe!" She heard a male voice shout.

Gabriella's head looked up and saw the male who she had been dating for the past three months standing at the side of the rink at the bottom of the bleachers, shaking a bag which she guess contained food.

Gabriella stood, brushing off her arms and legs as she skated over, "Hey," She greeted crossing her arms to rest on top of the side surrounding the rink.

"Hey hottie," He grinned, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Gabriella smiled up at him, "Is this for me?" She gestured toward the bag.

"Of course, I've got to keep my little champion full," Her boyfriend, Adam grinned charmingly.

Gabriella laughed, "My coach would kill me if she saw me eating this," She said once she looked into the bag as saw a greasy cheese burger and fries.

"It's good she's not here then," Adam smiled cheekily and stamped his feet a little, "I hired some skates, any chance you can let me on the ice?"

Gabriella bit down on her bottom lip, "I dunno, I'm not really allowed anyone else on," She said apprehensively.

Adam's eyebrows rose, "They can't make one exception?" He asked, leaning down to kiss her cheek before making his way to her ear.

Gabriella moved away quickly, spinning away from him, "Ok, fine. Come on, I'll help you," She skated over to the opening and pushed the gate so he could walk onto the ice.

He gripped her hands as he tentatively stepped out onto the ice, looking down at his feet.

Gabriella couldn't help but giggle as she pulled him along, "Ok, now just glide, take a step and push," She instructed.

Adam attempted to push off and glide across the smooth surface but he was wobbly so Gabriella let go of his hands, instructing him to watch as she manoeuvred simply around the rink quickly.

/

"That's that dude Adam right? He's on the football team or something?" Chad asked, frowning.

"Yeah I think, I saw him at the sport masquerade ball just before summer," Troy nodded.

"I'm pretty sure when I was looking for a spare room at the party last weekend, the one when you bailed on me," Chad gave him a look which Troy chuckled at, "I swear he was fucking some other chick."

Troy's brows rose, "Shit."

"I mean them two could have just met and been on a couple of dates this week?" Chad asked meekly.

"Nah man, he's been coming here for months."

"Then yeah. Shit," Chad nodded.

Troy looked back down at the rink, seeing Gabriella skate backwards a little quicker than Adam was skating forwards as he tried to catch her. She was laughing as she took off her fleece which left her in a leotard which went beneath her leggings.

/

"Fuck. I wish I could skate quicker right now," Adam groaned, licking his lips and eyeing up her body before she quickly turned and skated away, showing him the openness of the back before she did a twist in the air and landing it perfectly.

"Gabriella!" Another loud voice shouted from the side.

Gabriella ducked her head, holding in a groan as she slowed and spun around to face her coach.

"What do you think you're doing letting him on here?" Cathy shouted.

Gabriella sighed, gesturing for Adam to get off the ice, "I never get to see him so he came here and wanted to try it out."

"He's not allowed during your private time," Cathy told her, "You know that."

Gabriella shook her head as skated off as Cathy strapped on some boots before walking down onto the ice to start the coaching part of the session.

/

"She's so hot," Troy mumbled, raking his eyes from her toned yet muscled legs, up to her behind which was a little on the large side and perfectly perky. His eyes continued up her bare back to her dainty shoulders and thick, black hair scooped into a ponytail.

"Yeah," Chad scoffed as an agreement.

Troy got beckoned over by a customer and he set to work on an order, not noticing Gabriella who had skated over angrily to the side, stepping off and throwing her boots off to the side, not bothering to find some of her street shows. She jogged up the steps and pushed the door open which led to the reception and another swing door which led to the food booths.

Gabriella saw Troy walking on an order but she walked over and placed herself on the stool slightly away from Chad who she did not know.

Troy and Chad made eye connect as he placed the customer the food and sorted out the money. Chad nodded his head over to Gabriella who rested her head against the counter.

Troy walked over, placing his hands on the edge of the counter, "Hey, you alright?" He asked casually, tilting his head to the side subconsciously.

Gabriella looked up and pouted her full lips, "No. My coach is driving me crazy."

"Get a new one?" He offered meekly.

Gabriella let out a small giggle, "It's not that simple. Coaches are a _lot_ of money and my mom thinks Cathy is the best."

"It's your life," Troy shrugged.

Gabriella pretended to cry and she let her arm slip over the counter and one hand to rest her face on, "It's so hard."

Troy's eyes shot to Chad's as he noticed Gabriella's small hand was extremely close to his male gentile region.

"You're telling me," He mumbled, looking down at the couple of centimetres separating them.

Gabriella leant her elbow on the side to rest her head using the hand that was slung across the counter, "How are you anyway? I haven't spoken to you for a while."

"Maybe because of that guy who keeps getting you in trouble?" Troy asked with a smirk.

Gabriella shrugged, "I don't think it'll last long. He's fucked some other girl apparently,"

Troy frowned, "Who told you that?"

"My friend, she saw him wrapped around this other chick, kissing her neck and shit when they were looking for a room," Gabriella screwed up her face, "Not the first time either. He kissed some other girl like two months back at a party we went to together."

"That sucks. Why are you still with him?" Troy shook his head.

Gabriella licked her lips, "I don't know. I've been trying to think of a way to confront him but I don't know," She shrugged.

Troy gave her a half smile, "Jerk to mess with the Queen of this place."

Gabriella let out a giggle, "You are definitely here more than me."

"Gotta make a living. You want anything?"

"Just a water please. How's college going?" Gabriella asked.

Troy shrugged, grabbing a water from the fridge and placing it in front of her, "Good. My grades are pretty good even though that jackass tried to get me to go to a party the night before a test worth 60%," He gestured over to Chad.

"You're friends?" Gabriella asked quickly.

"Yeah, I'm Chad," He introduced, holding out his hand.

"Gabriella, nice to meet you," She shook his head, "I feel so rude, I've practically ignored you."

"Don't sweat it, you looked a little stressed out," Chad said politely.

"He's not usually this nice so lap it up while you can," Troy advised with a wink.

Gabriella grinned, "How did the test go?"

Troy nodded with a downturned smile, "Pretty decent I think."

Gabriella smiled softly, "Good. My grades are so bad. I spend all of my time here so I don't know if I'll pass the year. My dad left when I made skating a priority, he thought me and my mom were crazy and said my grades would suffer and he was right," He murmured, not realising she was telling the two guys so much.

"What it is with you and knowing all these jerks?" Troy teased.

A small laugh escaped Gabriella's lips, "So you're a jerk too?" She grinned cheekily.

Troy gave her a playful look, "After all these times you've come here stressed out and I've helped you, and you called me a jerk."

Gabriella licked her plump lips, looking up into Troy's eyes, "There are many ways to de-stress, I can go elsewhere and get help."

Troy tilted his head giving her a warning look, "Behave," He smirked a little as Gabriella scrunched her nose briefly, "But sure, go elsewhere if you don't like my services."

Gabriella brought her hand up to cover her smiling face, moving it a little so Troy could read her lips, "I've only gotten to test out your services a couple of times so I can make an accurate judgement yet," She whispered.

Troy leaned onto the counter a little more, "Then chat away," He smirked, bringing the conversation back to a platonic place.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes jokingly as he flipped off the playful conversation before turning to Chad, "Does he always turn down every girl he meets or is it just me?"

Chad shrugged, looking over at Troy with a grin, "I'm pretty sure he's a girl deep down."

Gabriella giggled, looking over at Troy who just shook his head with a smile gracing his lips and went to serve a customer.

Chad shuffled over to sit next to Gabriella, "He's turned you down?" He enquired with an interest.

Gabriella tilted her head, "He doesn't tell you a lot does he?"

Chad's brows shot up, "I thought we told each other a lot," After he earned a look from a smirking Gabriella, "No? I'm wrong?" He asked.

Gabriella shrugged, "What's he told you about me?"

Chad let out a deep breath, "That you're hot and you went just before college started for you," He said with a questioning tone, "Oh, and that you talk whenever you come up here."

Gabriella saw Troy give her a warning glance, slightly tuned into the conversation even though he was serving somebody with a long list of orders.

"So he says the last time he took me out was before my freshman year? Which was just over a year ago?" She questioned herself, "Yeah I started in August, we're in November now."

Chad nodded, "Yeah."

"And when I come to get food or drink that we just talk then?"

"Yeah."

"I think you need to grill your buddy. He's missing out some details. Ask him if he remembers that he was the one who told me to agree to my first date with Adam, after like a million dates with him, numerous kisses and an insane few days before he told me to agree," Gabriella said, all the time looking over at Troy seriously.

Gabriella looked at Chad who had his mouth dropped open and his brows raised, "Yeah, I'm going back to the ice. Nice meeting you," Gabriella smiled as put down some money for the water before walking away back down to the ice rink.

"Excuse me Miss, you need to pay," A receptionist shouted just as Gabriella was about to enter the second swing door.

"It's my private time, I'm Gabriella, Cathy's my coach," Gabriella explained and the receptionist enter a couple of things on the computer.

"Oh of course, sorry Miss Montez."

Gabriella smiled before entering and walking down to her skates, putting them back on. She placed her speaker on the edge before stepping onto the ice, she pressed play and skating into position. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

/

"Why didn't you tell me that you'd taken her on a few dates, dude?" Chad asked curiously.

Troy shook his head, "There's nothing to tell," He said shortly.

"You kissed!" Chad exclaimed.

"I'm 21, not 15. Kissing doesn't mean a lot now," Troy shrugged.

"Yes it does! You don't kiss someone you don't find attraction," Chad pointed out.

Troy ran a hand through his hair, "I've already said she's hot."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chad asked, getting back to his first pointed.

Troy rubbed the back of his neck, "I dunno."

"What happened? Give me the deets," Chad asked, picking at his fries that Troy had passed him.

Troy watched as Gabriella bent her back backwards, spinning around quickly then slowly come out of it, "We chatted whenever she came for lunch, she needed a lift home one night and I finished work here like half an hour after she was done training so she carried on skating until I finished and locked up. I drove her to her dorm and her roommate had locked her out by accident so we went back to my dorm while she tried to call her and Liam was out for some reason so she ended up staying. She went early because of practice and I had work a little later so when she came for food, I asked her out on a date."

"I can't believe all this happened and I had no clue!" Chad exclaimed, "When did the kissing come into it?" He asked.

"After the second date, I took her for dinner and then we went to the beach and took a walk, kissed her and then when I dropped her off, I kissed her again and then the next few dates, it kinda became more frequent and I remember one weekend Liam was going to visit his girlfriend in San Diego so I took Gabriella out for just dessert at this pancake place and asked if she wanted to come back to mine. We did a little foreplay but before anything else could happen, Liam came in he had an argument or something with his girlfriend they broke up so he came back early," Troy informed, "Happy you know now?"

Chad's eyebrows hadn't lowered once since Troy began speaking, "So why is she now dating Adam?"

Troy rubbed his chin, "She asked we were doing and I just said we were having fun and keeping everything chilled. She emphasised then that we had just spent the weekend together… away-"

"You went on a weekend away together?" Chad asked, the most shocked he had been in the entire conversation.

Troy let out a breath, "Yeah, we went up to San Fran for a weekend and did tourist shit and fucked like rabbits for two nights," He chuckled, keeping his voice down. Quickly shaking his head, "I guess she didn't like that I said we were just having fun so she mentioned a few guys who had asked her out on a date recently and I told her to say yes to one and here we are. We didn't go through an awkward stage, yeah she stopped coming to see me for a couple of weeks but we started to talk again when she was hungry."

Chad moved his tongue around in his mouth before replying, "Wow."

Troy nodded, looking over at Gabriella who was practicing a position which she would need to perfect to though herself up high into the air to make the twist.

"That's insane. I can't believe you went on a weekend away," Chad shook his head in disbelief.

Troy nodded and pulled his cell phone out of his bag under the counter of the hut and opened it up to load the photos of that weekend. He slid his cell to Chad, telling him if he wanted to see more just to slide across.

"These are pretty intimate," Chad commented, showing the blue eyed man in front of him the one he was referring to.

Troy looked at his cell as saw himself standing behind Gabriella wearing a t-shirt and his arms seemingly went around her waist as he grinned and squinted into the sun, his head ducked and knees bent a little so his chin was against the side of her head. Gabriella wore an equally as large smile and the same squint wearing a strappy dress.

"I think that was the Saturday, we got there like Friday afternoon and made our way back Sunday night," Troy informed.

Chad shook his afro, "I can't believe you're ok with her dating Adam and watching him kiss her."

"Of course I'm not ok with it. I hate that she's datin' some other dude and he's sleeping with girls behind her back," Troy frowned, shaking his head briefly.

"Why don't you offer to help her out with school work? The classic tutor and student situation. That always works," Chad grinned.

"Man, you are original," Troy rolled his eyes.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Chad asked with raised brows.

Troy reluctantly shook his head.

"Is she always like that with you?" Chad asked, referring to the flirty turn Troy's and Gabriella's conversation had taken.

Troy nodded, "Pretty much."

"You go home with blue balls?"

Troy chuckled then smirked, "You have no idea some days. I just wanna pull her over the counter and pull the shutter down and just have her."

Chad chuckled, raising his hand for a fist bump, "My man."

Troy laughed but bumped fists anyway.

"I'm gonna take off. Taking Taylor on our weekly date night, tonight," He rolled his eyes, "Something to ensure we see each other enough apparently."

Troy made a face, "Or just a way to get you to be romantic every now and then," He smirked.

"Whatever man," Chad rolled his eyes jokingly before jumping off the stool, "Keep the change bro."

"Thanks man," He said, collecting the money and Chad walked out.

Troy's eyes returned to the ice rink after sorting through the money and noticing Gabriella and all of her stuff was replaced by a crowd of varying ages, none of which as graceful, quick or elegant as the figure skating by Gabriella Montez.

/

At 9pm, just over two hours since he had noticed Gabriella had been gone, he was sent home by a college guy who was doing the reminder of the shift, just a mere two hours left. Troy chatted with his friend for a couple of moments before taking off. He slipped his bag over his shoulders to rest on his back and spun his car keys around in his fingers. He dug out his cell phone to respond to various texts he had received throughout the day.

Troy looked up into the dark to location his car, just a few lights lighting up the few cars left on the parking lot. He noticed a figure leaning against the driver's side, her bags at her feet.

He shook his head a little, wondering why she was standing against his truck, "Hey hitchhiker, get lost, I ain't taking anyone anywhere," Troy shouted with a grin.

Gabriella looked up with a smile, she straightened a little as Troy got closer and finally came to stand in front of her, "Not even me back to your dorm?"

"Not even then," He smirked.

Gabriella smiled, keeping her lips together, "What does a girl have to do to get into your bed Mr Bolton?"

Troy raised his brows once, "You should know, you've been there," He looked down as he picked up her hands and began to play with her fingers.

"When I was pissed yes, when I got locked out and when Liam walked in on us, like three times. The key to Troy Bolton's bed is being locked out, vulnerable and drunk and dessert."

"Got it in one go," Troy teased with a wink.

Gabriella smiled, letting him continue to play with her fingers.

"You've stayed more than that. When we've just been hanging out and you've fell asleep or when we've had insane sex, the majority of the time uninterrupted," He lifted one side of his mouth into a half smile.

Gabriella let out a half giggle and half snort, "True."

Troy lifted his eyes to meet hers, "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Gabriella licked her lips quickly, "Waiting for you."

"Why?" Troy asked.

"To ask for a ride," She smiled cheekily, "Pretty please."

"I was actually just going to run by mine quick then I'm going out to meet some people," Troy informed.

"Some people? Or are you going on a date and don't want to tell me?" Gabriella asked with a tilt of her head.

Troy dropped her hands, "That's got nothing to do with you now."

Gabriella looked at him, her lips plump as she pursed them together, "Ok, I'll call Adam."

Troy nodded, "That's probably best."

Gabriella nodded once, pulling her bags one by one onto her shoulders, her cell phone pressed to her ear, already calling the guy she was dating, "Hey… yeah everything is fine. Can you please come and pick me up?... Ok, thanks, bye," She hung up the phone and continued to walk toward the door.

"Gabriella!" Troy shouted.

Gabriella stopped and turned around as Troy walked over to her, "I'm not going on a date. Chad text to see if I wanted to meet up with some basketball guys and some people from back home who are here visiting and just to go to a few clubs and a few bars."

"You didn't need to tell me that. Like you said, I have no right to know," Gabriella shrugged.

Troy licked his lips, swallowing, "It would be good to see you out tonight."

"What?" She asked frowning.

"I'd really like it if I saw you out… tonight," Troy said, indirectly asking to see her tonight.

Gabriella gave him a small smile before lightly shaking her head, "If you get locked out or get crazy drunk or have dessert than you know where I am."

Troy gave her a sad smile but nodded anyway, "Are they the key things to get into Gabriella Montez's bed too?" He asked, bringing a lighter air to the conversation.

Gabriella shook her head slowly, "No. All you do to get into my bed is be Troy Bolton."

Troy frowned sadly, his smile slipping off his face, "Gabriella…" He breathed.

Gabriella smiled up at him a little, "It's ok." She nodded.

The noise of a done up, new car roared into the parking lot and Gabriella looked around the side of Troy as Troy turned his head to see Adam rolling up in his car.

"Whats up Bolton," Adam greeted.

Troy nodded, greeting him as Gabriella passed him without saying another word. Troy faced the wall again, taking a deep breath before spinning around and giving them a wave as they took off. Troy headed back to his truck, climbing in this time and heading off.

/

"You alright man, you look a little tense tonight?" Liam asked as they sat in a bar, having one more drink before heading to the clubs. Just the two of them sitting opposite each other as the other grabbed one more drink.

Troy nodded, "This girl just got under my skin that's all."

"What girl?" Liam asked.

In some ways Troy told more personal things to Liam as he was kind of forced to as he did walk in on an awful lot of things but Chad would always be his best friend and if something major happened in his life, Chad would be the first of his friends to know about it.

"Just some chick, she told me that all I have to do is be me to get into her bed," Troy told him.

"Wow, sounded like an open invitation that buddy," Liam said.

"She's been dating someone for a couple of months now though," Troy shrugged.

Liam narrowed his eyes a little, "Then loosen up, drink more and enjoy yourself. Half of these guys have come to visit you and Chad so enjoy," He encouraged.

"You're right," Troy said. He knew he was being quiet and he felt all of his muscles tense throughout the night. He should show that he appreciated his friends coming to visit. He rolled his shoulders and took a few breaths.

They quickly moved onto a club, Liam encouraged this as he felt that once Troy was drinking and dancing he would loosen up and enjoy himself. Of course once he had a couple more drinks and danced with his friends, Liam was right, Troy was laughing and spinning around Sharpay as she laughed also. Her boyfriend, Zeke coming to grab her waist so Troy started to dance with Liam and Chad, their arms around each other's shoulders as they jumped.

Troy laughed as Chad fell to the floor, subsequently bumping into a women's leg who gave him a dirty look and Taylor narrowed her eyes at her. Troy looked up, to see Sharpay and Zeke attached at the mouth which he quickly looked away from. His eyes suddenly settled on a woman he didn't think he would be seeing tonight.

"Fuck," Troy muttered before raising his eyebrows at the girl, giving her a what-the-hell hand gesture.

Gabriella raised one shoulder in a shrug, licking over her bottom lip.

Troy tilted his head back and headed for the bar to get another drink without informing anyone.

"Erm vodka coke please," Troy said as she leant against the bar and was lucky enough to get served quickly. Finally a bit of luck.

"Hey," A feminine voice said as she squeezed into the space between him and the guy next to him.

Troy briefly shut his eyes because he knew that would she had displayed during her figure skating practice would be beautifully displayed once again, "Hi," He husked.

Gabriella pushed her lips together, waiting for him to look at her and when he did, she waited for him to run his eyes over her body. She wanted to impress him as she got ready for the night out she spontaneously suggested to her friends. They helped her out, thinking she just wanted to look extra nice even though Adam wasn't tagging along. Girl's night.

Troy's blue eyes took in her large curls making up her thick, long hair, her make-up done a little more than usual but not as done up as many girls in the club and the dress. The damn dress. She wore a long sleeved dress which dipped rather deeply into her chest and a short hem, a couple of inches below her butt and finally to show off her toned legs she wore black caged heels.

"You look… fuck," Troy leant closer to her, pushing her hair away from her ear, holding it away with the back of his hand, "You're making me hard just looking at you because I know that's the same dress you wore when we went out to that fancy restaurant in San Fran and let's just say we were up a lot that night," He pulled back to read her reaction.

She feigned innocence, "Really? I didn't know, must have forgotten."

"You did not forget," Troy shook his head, grinning.

Gabriella let a giggled slip out.

"What do you want to drink?"

Gabriella pouted, "A beer."

Troy narrowed his eyes at her and she smiled innocently at him, "I know your game, Montez," He leaned on the bar again for a couple of minutes, "Yo, can I have a beer please?"

"Sure," The bartender said.

Troy handed him the money and passed her the beer.

"Thank you."

"What made you change your mind?" Troy asked as they moved away from the bar to stand near the wall.

"To keep an eye on you," She joked.

Troy shook his head with a smile, "Does Adam know you're here, keeping an eye on me?"

Gabriella shook her head, "He has no right to know."

Troy frowned but didn't push the matter, "Well I'm glad you're here. I couldn't stop thinking about you at the couple of bars we went."

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you for months," Gabriella said, sipping her beer.

Troy leaned against the wall and brought her with him, placing her between his legs, "You can't keep saying stuff like that because then it makes me say the stuff I did at the bar."

"And that's a bad thing?" She questioned.

"Yes, you have a boyfriend."

"I don't, we were dating, never official," Gabriella said firmly.

"Ok," Troy shrugged, sniffing, looking down at his glass.

Gabriella licked her bottom lip, "How good was San Francisco?"

Troy continued to look down, feeling her eyes boring into his forehead, "Amazing."

"Thank you for organising it and surprising me. It was so sweet when I had that crappy week and extremely crappy Friday to see you outside my dorm ready for when I got back from class and then you told me I needed to pack a weekend bag and you'd booked a hotel for two nights to get away from LA," Gabriella recalled, smiling.

Troy smiled back, lifting his head, "I was pretty darn proud of that idea."

Gabriella grinned, "It was the best, thank you."

"No problem," Troy felt her step closer, resting her free hand on his chest in a slight ball.

"Even the drive up there was fun, despite it being 6 hours."

Troy chuckled, "We only got lost once too," He added.

Gabriella giggled, sliding her hand to rest on his shoulder, "I've missed you," She said seriously.

"I've spoken to you at least once a week, normally more," Troy said, his hands moving to wrap around her and lay on the small of his glass, including his half drank glass.

"I know. But I mean going on dates with you, doing this with you," She frowned a little.

Troy closed his eyes and sighed, "Gabriella."

"Don't say it," She said quickly.

Troy looked at her sadly, shaking his head, "You remember that guy, he was like 70 maybe, who asked us, in San Fran when we were on one of them tours, how long we'd been together for and we told him we had just been on a few dates, nothing official?"

"Yeah, I remember. Why are you telling me this?" She asked, sipping from her bottle.

"Because you went somewhere, I don't remember where, but he was digging into me into why I haven't made you my girlfriend and he told me that his wife of forty years looked at him the way you looked at me. He told me that he would have said we've been together for a few years. I told him, we only met when we were 18/19 and remember we both were 20 when we went San Fran and he couldn't believe it," Troy told her with a half-smile at the end.

Gabriella gave half a laugh, "Is it just me who looks at you like that?"

Troy shook his head, "No. He told me, I look at you the exact same way princess," He told her and she seemed to relax more into his arms, "But he did tell me off for grabbing your ass in public and you were right to hit me. He said a couple of people on the tour who were older said we looked good together and really happy and extremely couple-like."

Gabriella bit her bottom lip, "I'm glad he agrees with my abuse of you every time you touch my ass," She teased.

Troy grinned, "It's worth it," He winked.

Gabriella smiled back, running her fingers through the back of his hair at the nape of his back, "So who is this group you were meeting that were so important you couldn't give me a ride home after I waited an hour for you."

Troy tilted his head to the side in disbelief, "Gabriella!" He shook his head, "You silly girl," He huffed.

Gabriella stuck her tongue out, standing up straight, "Let's go."

Troy straightened and led her through the crowds of people, leading her to his group of friends who were all seemingly taking a drink break from dancing.

"Troy! Where'd ya go?" Liam shouted.

Troy looked down at Gabriella who had come to stand beside him.

"Oh!" Liam's brows were raised, "Nice to see you again, this time clothed," Liam joked.

Gabriella laughed a little, "Slightly," He smiled, "But you too."

"Gabriella! Hey!" Chad greeted.

Gabriella waved excitedly at him.

Troy wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple, "What do I introduce you as?" He asked, looking down into her eyes as they connected.

Gabriella shrugged, "I dunno. Your bit of fun?"

Troy gave her an unimpressed look, "If I look at you like a man does after forty years of marriage then you are more than that, ok?" He said firmly.

Gabrielle simply nodded.

Troy shook his head, "Guys this is Gabriella and Gab these are my friends, some from back home and some from college.

"I just get introduced as Gabriella?" She asked, tilting her head up at him.

Troy rubbed his eyes, "Yes because I can't explain you," He sighed angrily before Sharpay and Taylor started to speak to her and Troy sat at the booth in Sharpay's old space.

"That's the girl you were talking about earlier at the bar?" Liam asked, nudging his arm.

"Yeah."

"Dude, take her up on the offer!"

"She's dating someone."

"Whose fault is that?" Chad asked.

"Mine, I know," Troy said through gritted teeth.

Troy looked away from his friends and over at Gabriella who was giggling with Taylor and Sharpay, both of them, especially Sharpay dwarfing Gabriella, her tiny height evident. He smiled a little at the three girls getting along but most just watching Gabriella laughing made him smile at least he knew in that moment she was happy. He just wished he could turn back time and stop the words, which made her accept Adam's date, from coming out of his mouth.

She waited hours to see him


	2. Chapter 2

So, you may have noticed this quick update however it is only half a chapter. I would real like some feedback before I continue. I'd like you to please review and comment if you like this chapter or say you don't and you'd like it more... fluffy maybe? Let me know. Please! Thank you for reading.

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Gabriella stumbled out of the last club they went into, emerging into the dark morning at around 4am. The majority of the guys were tipsy, some were way past that. Surprisingly, Troy, Chad and Liam were the most sober ones, yet they had a lot to drink but were only slightly tipsy.

Troy had a firm hold on Gabriella's waist to keep her from falling as they all exited the club. He let her go for a moment as Sharpay came to drag her away, leading her toward a particularly drunk group of men who seemed to be around the age of twenty-three. Troy worked his jaw as he saw one of them take a particular interest in Gabriella. On one hand he couldn't blame the guy, she was beautiful and had an amazing body which was documented in a hot, little dress. On the other hand, she was dating someone and Troy was… completely infatuated with her.

"No," Gabriella said, stubbornly with a pout and looked over at Troy who was laughing with Chad and Liam was playfully glaring at the two boys, "I want Troy," She whispered with a small slur, trying to slip away from the hands of the man who was trying to get her attention by stroking his hands up and down her waist.

"Who is Troy, baby?" He asked, looking down at her face as she looked towards Troy's group of friends.

"Troy," She answered, gently pushing his hands off of herself and walking as best she could over to Troy.

/

"Dude, a little someone is making a b-line for you," Chad nodded in the direction of behind Troy's back.

Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Gabriella struggling to walk, he turned back to his friends, "I didn't think I'd be baby-sitting tonight," He huffed, earning a laugh from Chad and Liam before turning and meeting Gabriella half way, "Alright there goofy?" He teased.

Gabriella threw her arms around his strong neck, "Can we go back to San Fran? Right now," She said in a voice which was trying to be seductive but came out slurred.

Troy chuckled, holding her waist to keep to up right, "Why do you wanna go back there, huh?"

Gabriella did her best to hold the back of his head and pull it down softly but ended up poking his ear and he winced, "Sorry. And because it was so fun and…"

/

Chad and Liam were standing back with their arms folded with amused smiles as he watched Troy grip the back of Gabriella's dress and his eyes shut quickly and his forehead fell forward as Gabriella held the back of his neck and spoke quietly into his ear.

Troy lifted up to head and Chad and Liam's smirks grew when Troy shook his head which indicated that Gabriella was testing how much of a gentleman he really was and Troy, given any other state that Gabriella was in, would have taken her up on her offers immediately.

/

Troy stood up straight and took Gabriella's hands in his, "You can't say shit like that when you're dating Adam, Gab."

"But it's you," She whispered.

"It doesn't make any difference," Troy shook his head, "You're practically taken, you can't say that kind of stuff to me and I can't say it to you."

Gabriella looked up at him, her brown eyes staring straight into the blue, "But it's you," She repeated, "It's you," She said again.

Troy's thumbs rubbed her over knuckles, "And you're you," He stressed while shaking his head.

"Then forget everything else," Gabriella said a lot my coherently than before.

Troy's head hung low and his eyes closed tiredly, "I can't be the guy who encourages a girl to date another guy and then kiss the girl who their dating."

Gabriella kissed his cheek softly, "You're not, its fine, its fine," She spoke softly.

Troy look up a little, "It's not."

"Its fine… its fine… its fine," Gabriella repeated quietly, kissing closer to his mouth each time.

Troy shook his head slowly while she hoovered to the side of his lips.

"I promise, its ok," She spoke, looking from his lips to his blue eyes.

His head to rolling from looking straight ahead and then looking towards her, his breathing becoming heavy and shallow.

"I swear," She breathed, "Its fine, everything will be ok," She gave him half a small smile.

Troy nodded, keeping his head low as he leant the rest of the way down in a daze to kiss her. Their lips connected and Troy soon wrapped his arms around her; stroking his thumbs over the small of her back. He felt her smile against his lips and he smiled too. Their lips continued to massage each other's and soon their tongues were involved and Gabriella's back was arched and her arms flopped over Troy's shoulders, the fingertips of one hand massaging his neck. Their tongues slid together, ending in a sloppy kiss.

Troy pulled away as he heard wolf whistles when it must have been particularly obvious that his tongue was in her mouth. He shook his head and pressed a kiss to her neck.

"I can't do this," He muttered into her ear.

He pulled away abruptly, stepping away from her a little as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slightly used box of cigarettes. Whipping one out to place it in his mouth before lighting it up. He breathed in the chemicals and blew out the air away from Gabriella.

"What the fuck? You said you were gonna stop," Gabriella frowned.

Troy shook his head, stepping away more, continuing to puff on his cigarette, "You're dating someone else and we just kissed," Troy rambled, taking another drag.

Gabriella lifted one shoulder up into a shrug, "He has sex with other girls behind my back."

"I'm not a rebound," He said firmly, bringing the cigarette to his lips between his index finger and his middle finger.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes, walking up to him again and pressing her lips to his, moaning slightly at the smoky taste of his mouth, reminding her of the kisses they first shared together, "You are not a rebound."

Troy was still tipsy enough to cup her face, his cigarette between his fingers still as he kissed her passionately, leaning down to kiss her thoroughly. His tongue in her mouth for the second time in the space of a few minutes.

Troy felt two hands push at his arm and he stumbled away from Gabriella, his cigarette still firmly between his fingers.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing with my girl!" An angry Adam and seemingly drunk Adam shouted.

Troy chuckled, puffing on his cigarette casually, "Dude, you can't pretend to give a fuck about her."

"I do! She's my girl."

Troy rolled his eyes, "Girl? Dude, she's 21. And that's not what she's been telling me the entire night."

Adam narrowed his eyes at Gabriella who was stood off to the side watching the two men in shock, "What have you been telling him?"

"We were dating, we were never official," Gabriella firmly, "Why do you care anyway? You've slept with at least two girls since you've been taking me out!" Gabriella shouted.

Troy continued to smoke during this encounter, "I heard that too."

"You said we were never official so why does it matter?" Adam scoffed.

"You just said I was yours!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Adam rolled his eyes, turning back to Troy, "You're really that type of guy who kisses girls who are dating?" He asked with squinted eyes.

Troy smirked at him, "If it wasn't for me, dude, you wouldn't have a single chance with her."

"Oh and you think you do?" Adam laughed loudly, "Look at you! You're smoking, your eyes are fucked man."

Troy looked away and rubbed his lips together, "I have a better chance at being a real boyfriend to her than you do," He hissed, "You were shit to her and what you dated for two months?"

"Three," Adam corrected.

"Oh wow," Troy laughed, "Have you had sex?"

Adam didn't respond.

"So you two were dating and she didn't let you sleep with her but a few months ago me and Gabriella weren't dating but she let me inside," Troy said, cockily, remembering to apologise to Gabriella later.

Adam let out a small laugh, "I couldn't give a fuck. I'm more interested in what you've been doing for the past year."

Troy's nostrils flared, "What have I been doing?" He challenged.

"Open your wallet Bolton," Adam said.

"No," Troy hissed.

"Why? Wouldn't find any weed or any crack in there would you? Open up," Adam shouted.

Troy swallowed, "Is that what you demanded Gabriella to do? To open up but she wouldn't would she?" He chuckled, "She more interested in my dick than yours and you're the one dating her."

Adam spun around to Gabriella, "Whatever we were doing is done, yeah I slept with a couple of guys and you made out with this drunk addict here," He turned back to Troy, "Good luck fucking up your life man," Adam said, pushing passed Troy to continue his way down to the taxi bay.

Troy dropped his cigarette to the floor, squashing it with the bottom of his shoe. He started to breath heavily as he looked up at Gabriella who had her mouth hanging open and tears welling up in her eyes.

"Gab-"

"Don't come near me," She whispered.

Troy shook his head, stepping closer to her and softly taking her hands, kissing the backs of them, "You have to listen to me."

"Is he right?" She whispered.

Troy swallowed, briefly shutting his eyes, preparing for his life to come crashing further down. He looked up into the woman's eyes which would soon hate him, "Kind of," He mumbled.

Gabriella let out a shaky breath letting a tear fall down her face, "Oh my…" She trailed off.

"Baby," He breathed, kissing the backs of her hands, "I'm sorry princess."

Gabriella was openly crying, letting Troy kiss her hands and whisper words to her.

"I'm so sorry. I'll sort myself out, I'll go to rehab, I'll get counselling, I'll get off it all, I'll get clean," Troy rambled as he leant down to her level.

Gabriella abruptly pulled her hands away, "You're on something now?"

Troy rubbed his face harshly but nodded.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Gabriella placed a hand on her stomach, "I need to go home." She spun around and started to walk in a direction she wasn't sure was the correct way.

Troy watched as Sharpay, Zeke and Liam ran after her.

"Fuck!" Troy shouted, tilting his head back.

Chad was looking at his best friend with sympathy. People outside of himself and Troy had no idea what Troy had been going through the past couple of years. He watched his best friend who right now looked so weak fall against the wall and slid down it with his head between his knees.

"Come on, bro. Let's get you home," Chad said, crouching down in front of him.

Troy looked up at Chad, showing him his teary and red eyes, "This is why I couldn't be with her."

"I know dude. When you're ready, we'll get you help. I'll help you get help and I'll help you through that," Chad reassured, "I've told you this already."

Troy shook his head, gripping at his hair, "I'm never going to be any fucking different Chad," He laughed in a non-comical way. He dug into his pocket and his wallet and next to the compartment where he kept a condom, he pulled out a small bag of white powder and another one of a more course, leave-y type of texture, "See, I got these less than a week ago."

Chad snatched them from him, "Were you high the entire time you were talking to Gabriella tonight?" He asked.

Troy shook his head, "No, when she was talk and dancing with Sharpay after I told you guys I couldn't do anything about my feelings for her because of obviously this which I didn't say and that she was dating Adam, I went and did a little," He admitted.

Chad winced, "I know this all started with that basketball injury but can it please stop for your sake so you don't have to repress your feelings for this girl who is insanely in love with you, it's so obvious, so you can live a happy and honest life," He expressed.

Troy nodded, a tear slipping down his face, "I'm so sick of being ashamed of myself," He wiped his face.

Chad patted both of his friend's knees, "Let's sort you out then, together."

Troy nodded, tears continually pouring from his eyes silently, "I'm sick of having to hide half of my life away from everywhere and being secretive and not being able to be 100% happy. The longest I've been clean the last few months is when me and Gabriella went to San Fran, how crazy is that."

"I think you've nearly hit rock bottom now. You need to tell your parents and Gabriella will probably not want to speak to you so I think once you reach rock bottom, the only way is up."

Troy nodded, "Yeah, tomorrow."

/

Troy sat in his dorm with his back pressed up against the wall, his legs bent and his hand holding his cell phone between his legs. His hair was messy as his head hung forward while noises, indicating that he was crying, erupting from his mouth.

Troy heard a key in the door and moved from the position he had been in for at least an hour. He straightened his legs out and tilted his blotchy face back.

"Oh, hey," Liam said surprised, for some reason not expecting him there.

"Hows Gabriella?" Troy asked huskily.

"I don't know, I-"

"Don't bullshit me man. Please, just tell me how she is," He asked desperately.

Liam gave a dark laugh, "That's rich coming from you but she's shit and freaked out and a mess and completely disgusted with you," He said honestly.

Troy cringed but nodded, "Right, of course."

"How did I not notice? I live with you!" Liam exclaimed.

Troy shrugged, "I guess I am-was, whatever, I'm good at hiding it."

Liam nodded, "So what happens now?"

"I told my mom and dad. Like an hour and a half ago," Troy informed, "They were shocked and shouted and my mom cried and they said they'd call me back when they got their thoughts together."

Liam nodded slowly.

"I tried to call Gabriella but no," Troy said.

"That's expected. I just don't get it man," Liam huffed sitting on his bed.

Troy wiped at his face, "Neither do I. One moment it was under control and just to take the pain away and the next it's a full on issue," He shook his head.

"Why start?"

Troy licked his lips, "Basketball injury. In high school, I got picked to be captain, we were state champions back to back, I got picked for state team, got a scholarship here, got hurt in my first year, you remember? I kept it as quiet as I could. I basically can't play professionally anymore. They let me carry on studying here under a few different circumstances. I guess that played a big part," He shrugged, "But it was my error in judgement."

"Oh dude, you've completely fucked it with Gabs haven't you?" Liam said after a minute.

"Yep," Troy answered simply. He looked over at Liam, "This is a big part into why I couldn't make her my girlfriend. I lied to her and everyone for a long time so I can't expect anything from anyone."

"You seem pretty wise about this stuff," Liam frowned.

"Chad knew. We talk a lot about it but he claims that I didn't do anything about my issues because it wasn't the worst it can be. Now, yeah, it's pretty shit," Troy told him, "That's why I know all this stuff 'cause Chad's been telling me over and over."

Liam nodded, "He's a good friend to you."

"I know. I want to get clean, I need to. Chad deserves it, my family does, all my friends, Gabriella, everyone."

"And you, you deserve to have a healthy life."

Troy nodded and gave him a small smile, "Thanks. I'm so sorry for all this, I'm so, so, so sorry."

Liam gave him a little smile, "It's take some time to get my head around it all but I'm here for you man."

"I understand, thanks dude," Troy nodded.

* * *

I'd really like if you told my your thoughts so I can continue or start again. Thank you for reading and please review, you can be as brutal as you like.


	3. Chapter 3

Just a pre-warning, this is a little short because I wanted to get something out quick and before Christmas because you have been absolutely amazing in responding to my last chapter. I couldn't believe how many reviews I had; thank you so much! I really hope you enjoy this. Thank you for reading and please review.

* * *

Troy sat in front of his parents and younger brother in his dorm. Troy was sat on Liam's bed and Jack, Lucille and Dylan were sat opposite him on his own bed. Troy had silent tears falling down his face, his face blank with no colour and there was dark half circles under his eyes.

Lucille sat with tears streaming down her face, her hands covering them as Jack hugged her around her shoulders once Troy had finished explaining how and why he started to take these addictive substances.

"Mom," Troy breathed, shuffling forward on Liam's bed to take her hands away from her face, "Mama," He whispered.

Lucille looked up into her son's eyes, "I'm such a bad mother."

"I'm so sorry. This is 100% my fault, not yours or dads or Dylans or anyones. I know that," Troy nodded, looking down briefly, noting his shaky hands and deep down he knew that if he was feeling this way when nobody was around he would inhale or smoke the substances that lay beneath his boxers in his underwear draw.

"You wanna do it now don't you?" Dylan said bitterly.

Troy looked up and nodded, his chin shaking from the tears building up and falling from his lower lashes.

Dylan shook his head, "You're fucked up," He said, standing up.

"Dylan," Jack warned sternly.

"No dad, so many people get dealt a worse hand than he has. He's just twisted, fucked up, a shit excuse for a man," Dylan spat at his brother.

Troy pursed his lips and shrug with one shoulder, "I revolved everything around being a professional basketball player, when I had that injury… Everything I knew just fell to bits, I had no direction, no ambition, I didn't know who I was."

"And snorting crack helped that did it?" Dylan scoffed.

Troy shook his head, "Not in the long run, short term, yeah, it helped, it made me feel something."

"You're pathetic," Dylan shook his head and continued to work out of the room, "I'm going to wait in the car so we can get out of the presence of this smack head asap," Dylan let out a cold laugh and slammed the door shut.

Troy's head fell forwards as more tears fell from his eyes, now his shoulders were shaking.

Jack hugged Lucy tighter as she wept more freely now, "Shh," He whispered comfortingly into her ear, "It'll be ok," He assured, rubbing her arm.

"It will mom," Troy nodded, looking up.

Lucy looked at his broken and tired looking face and she let out a sob.

"I promise, I'll get help."

"Why haven't you before? Why now?" Jack asked neutrally.

Troy licked his lips, "A couple of nights ago I went out and this guy who probably hates me called me out on it in front of all my friends, from back home and here. Liam, my roommate, barely speaks to me, he says he's trying to get his head around it, he doesn't sleep here anymore. Chad has now for a while, he's really helping me. Everyone else won't talk to me. I've called, text, they're ignoring me. The one girl who I never wanted to look at me in disgust and look broke, looked at me like that. I can't count the amount of times I've wanted to throw up when I picture her face looking at me like that," Troy started, "I never want anyone to look at me the way they have been doing the past couple of days, ever again. I'm so ashamed, I hate living like this, with a huge secret which isn't exactly a secret now."

Jack nodded, "You really need to sort yourself out," He said firmly, "I'm disappointed in you."

Troy swallowed the lump in his throat. As a child you never want to hear your parents say they are disappointed. Troy knew he had to change. He could feel the physical effects of not taking any illegal substances since Friday night and it was now Monday afternoon.

"I'm going to meet some people in the student support centre at 4 and talk about what I can do," He informed them.

/

His parents and brother left an hour after Dylan had stormed out of the room and Troy was pulling on a pair of jeans and t-shirt which hugged his body and then threw on a jumper over the top. He slipped on converse before making his way to student support.

It was there that he was given guidance about what to do next. They put him on a withdrawal programme, giving him tips about what to do when he feels that he needs the substances in his body and also set up group counselling and also one to one counselling. Troy also agreed to go on weekly trips with the group where they did a day of activities to show them that there was more to life than drugs. After Troy's schedule of the next three months had been planned and every inch of it was covered. They had to call Troy's workplace and inform them that he wouldn't be working while he was coming off drugs. College and counselling is what his life would consist of.

Troy walked back across campus with all of the drugs in his backpack including the paperwork they had just been through. He wanted to ditch these drugs before he went back to his room and that's what he did. As he watched them wash away a lightness came over him and his shoulders felt lighter even though his backpack still weighed the same. He felt relief. He knew it would be difficult but he knew he could do it especially with his best friend by his side.

"Yo! Troy!" He heard the sound of his best friend shout.

Troy turned around as he came out of the bathroom. He saw his best friend but also Liam, Gabriella and Sharpay. Chad and Sharpay had gone to high school with Troy and the trio had headed off to the west coast together a couple of years prior.

"Hey," Troy greeted as Chad waved him over.

"How you doing, man? How did you appointment go?" Chad asked, stepping forward so it was more of a conversation between Troy and himself, leaving the other three who looked awkward behind him.

"Good. It starts today well it started Saturday. I have to go see my doctor now and then once a week too, just to check everything," Troy informed.

"You ok though?" Chad frowned worriedly.

"Yeah, it's just to see if I've done any long term damage," Troy told him quietly.

Chad nodded with a deep frown, "Want me to come with?"

"Nah, you've been there for me enough," Troy said with a smile.

"You look shit though man," Chad said quietly.

Troy shook his head, "My parents and Dylan came earlier. Dylan hates my guts and my mom is a mess and my dad is just so fucking disappointed."

Chad let out a deep breath, "Did you expect any less?"

"No, I'm not surprised. I brought this on myself, so," He shrugged.

Chad nodded reluctantly, "At least you're sorting yourself out though, right?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah," He glanced behind Chad's head, meeting Gabriella's teary eyes, "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked softly, "Please?"

Gabriella shook her head slowly, her lower lip trembling, "I can't," Her voice broke and she coughed lightly before speaking more firmly, "I can't," She said mumbled before she quickly walked past Troy.

"Gabriella," Troy whispered, catching her arm in his hand gently as she walked past.

Gabriella's other hand was clasping her books to her chest which stopped her from raising it and slapping it across his face. Her deep brown eyes looked down at his pale hand and then rose up to his blue, dark rimmed eyes, "Get the fuck off me you druggie," She growled, ripping her arm away and walking away.

Troy's hand fell to his side and the heel of his both his hands came up to press into his closed eyes, stopping any tears from falling.

Chad gripped both of Troy's shoulders, "You know she's just pissed at you for saying anything and kissing her when you've been high and all that. Just give her time," He said reassuringly.

"It actually breaks my heart to hear speak like that and say those words," Troy said, his voice breaking off every so often.

"But you know that'll motivate you to do better," Chad said encouragingly.

Troy nodded strongly, moving his hands away from his face.

"You're shaking so bad," Chad noted.

Troy nodded, "It's the physical side effects of not taking anything," He informed quietly.

"Right," Chad nodded, patting his shoulders before stepping back, "I gotta go to class, I'll call you later or call by, ok?"

"Sure, thanks man," Troy smiled, "Seriously thank you."

Chad smiled a little, "You're my best friend, I just want you back to being healthy."

Troy nodded appreciatively, "Thanks," He smiled.

Chad chuckled, "See you later," He said in a parting and walked away, Sharpay and Liam already had made a move.

Troy took a deep breath, wanting to run to the bathroom and scoop up all the drugs he had thrown away. He clenched his jaw, hoping one day that it'll get easier. He took another large breath, slowly letting it out before starting his walk through campus again.

/

Troy was lay on his bed in his dorm room with his laptop on his lap looking at apartments he could possibly move into in his final year, he really didn't want to be in dorms again; he didn't want to be able to hear his neighbour having sex or arguing.

The blue eyed hunk who Gabriella would have loved to kiss and fool around with looked drained; mentally and physical. He could feel his body craving cigarettes and drugs, not alcohol; he had never had a problem with alcohol. He felt tired and his eyes felt heavy. He decided that going cold turkey was extremely difficult but it had to be done, he didn't want to ween himself off it. He wanted to stop and he wanted to stop now. His doctor had approved and said it was safe for him to do so and now Troy just waited on his results to see if any long term damage had been done to any of his organs.

He pulled down his laptop screen, moving off his bed to change into a pair of baggy shorts and a black t-shirt then packing a bag ready for the gym. The student support and the doctor had suggested that if he feels strained or pressure or a need to do any of the things he wanted to stop, go to the gym because as Troy had explained to them, that's when he felt good.

An hour later found Troy staring at himself in the mirror, sweat beads dripping down his face as he wrestled against the heaviest weight he had used on bicep curls to date. Troy grunted as he lifted the weight.

He wasn't a stranger to the gym, his already large biceps and defined abdomen and chest confirmed that. He was just pushing himself harder now, wanting to up the amount of muscle he had on his body which had stayed consistent the past couple of years. He didn't feel that it was enough. He didn't feel he was enough anymore.

He continued to up the heaviness of the weights the next four weeks. He was making the most of the college gym before he went home for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. He had been doing well, no drugs had touched his body nor cigarettes. He had not missed a single group or one on one therapy and he was doing well with college work. He was back on speaking terms with Sharpay and himself and Liam were now basically back to normal. He and his friendships were improving greatly. One of the most important things was that Dylan had apologised and Troy had apologised to all of his family and they were now speaking regularly to ensure Troy had support to continue through his regular check-ups at the doctors and the support team at college and always the therapy groups he was going outside of that. Thankfully, his organs had no damage. When that information spread from the caller on the other end of the phone and into Troy's brain, he almost cried, he was ridiculously happy and so thankful. He wouldn't dare put his body through any of that again.

He would normally be flying home to New Mexico on any other holiday but this time he was flying over to Canada where his grandparents lived. His flight was tomorrow at 6pm which he was thankful for as Chad was having a Christmas party as his apartment. This would be a small test for Troy and to take his mind off it, he hit the gym.

As he stood in front of the mirror, ready to pick up a weight after doing some cardio which he rarely did indoors, he saw a flutter of black curly hair in the corner of his eye. He looked up into the mirror, catching the one person who hadn't spoken a word to him since she called him a druggie and stormed past him a month ago.

Troy swallowed lightly as he noticed she wasn't alone, she was with two other girls, both with long hair pulled into a bun but one was blonde and the other had light brown hair.

Their gazes met in the mirror and Troy nodded his head politely at her. He watched as she said something to her two friends before hesitantly walking over. Troy's breath hitched and he turned around to face her.

"Hi," He greeted once she got close enough.

"Hi," Gabriella let out a breath, "Listen, I know we aren't on speaking terms but I don't want everyone else to feel awkward at Chad's party later so," She shrugged, "Let's just say that we'll be civil and not argue or anything.

Troy nodded slowly, "Ok," He husked, "I never wanted to argue with you."

"Actions speak louder than words," Gabriella murmured with half a shrug.

Troy nodded in agreement, "Yeah."

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Good. Good. I'm clean if that's what you're asking."

"Hmm," Gabriella hummed.

"I have to be to continue to get the support I'm getting," Troy informed defensively.

Gabriella nodded, "Ok. I bet you've met a ton of girls who like the whole bad guy turned good, especially at the gym."

"I've not been looking. I've been trying to sort myself out," He said seriously.

Gabriella played with her fingers, looking down, "I finished it with Adam."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm, I didn't like the fact he had slept with four other girls and he didn't like that I kissed you so…" Gabriella shrugged, "That finished."

"I'm sorry," Troy whispered, "How's skating?"

Gabriella smiled a little, "It's going really well. I have a competition sometime after Christmas so I'm pretty busy preparing for that."

"Thanks good," Troy smiled.

Gabriella glanced over her shoulder, "I better go work out. I'm here with a couple of girls from skating, they're coming tonight too."

Troy nodded neutrally, "Cool. I'll see you later."

"See you later," She gave him a small smile before walking away.

Of course, Troy being a twenty-one year old male he couldn't help but allow his eyes to travel down her sports bra and hoodie covered top half and down to the tight, mid-calf workout leggings which hugged her behind perfectly.

Troy turned around, quickly snapping himself out of it and began to work on his biceps again before tilting his head at himself and thinking he should probably work on his chest a little more.

/

Troy cringed at himself as he got ready just ten minutes before he was supposed to be at Chad's. He noted the tightness of his white shirt around his biceps and his chest. He rolled up the sleeves and it looked a little better so he went with it, pulling on a black bomber jacket too helped to cover his arms and chest more. His black jeans were a little snug around his thighs and calves but no more than usual.

"Ready, man?" Liam asked.

Troy ran his hand through his hair one final time and nodded, "Let's go."

"I'm so excited that you're coming out with us," Liam grinned.

Troy chuckled, "I'm excited too. It's been a while."

Liam nodded, "Definitly. But seriously, if you're struggling or whatever, just let one of us know," Liam said, patting his shoulder, "We're all always here for you."

"Thank you man, it means a lot," Troy smiled genuinely.

"I think Chad wanted it to be pretty fancy tonight hence the shirt thing so the girls should be dressed up pretty nice," Liam grinned.

Troy laughed, "Someone is thinking about getting laid," He smirked.

"Of course," Liam laughed.

Soon Troy and Liam arrived at Chad's apartment building and he let them up. The party was already in full swing, drinks were being held, people were munching on the snacks and dancing. Troy looked around and his blue eyes latched on to a specific girl were was sat on a couch chatting to the two girls he had seen her with earlier in the day, holding a drink and looking gorgeous.

"So Bolton, you've been out of the game for a month, anyone caught your eye?" Chad smirked.

Troy let out a laugh, "I'm not in the place to date dude."

"Who said anything about dating?" Liam asked and Chad oh'd.

Troy rolled his eyes and went to make himself a drink alone, pouring only a little bit of alcohol mixed with a soft drink. He took a quiet deep breath, feeling rather warm within the medium sized apartment filled with people. He decided that it was way too warm for his jacket so he slipped it off and walked out of the kitchen in his drink.

"Hi," A woman's voice said as she leant against the wall next to the kitchen.

Troy's head spun around and he stopped, "Hey," He smiled softly and turned his body to face hers.

"So I've been thinking, wait, my friend Rosie, she saw you today at the gym and she thinks you're insanely hot and she wants me to give you her number. So, I've been thinking, you should have her number and take her out," Gabriella nodded.

Troy licked his lips, "Thanks but no, thanks. I don't feel like I'm ready to date."

"Then have her number for when you are," Gabriella practically pleaded.

Troy shook his head, "Gabriella. I don't want to date anyone right now. A month, two months, three months ago I didn't want to date anyone but you so please don't ask me to date your friends," He shook his head and walked away leaving her slouched against the wall holding an alcoholic beverage.

Gabriella closed her tired eyes, resting her head back against the wall.

"Hey Gabster," A hyperactive Chad greeted.

"Hey," She smiled, opening her eyes.

"Are you ok?" He asked, a frown appearing on his face.

Gabriella nodded, "Just tired," She answered with a closed lip smile.

"This Troy thing is really grinding you down isn't it?" Chad stated more than asked.

Gabriella breathed, "I just don't know how I didn't notice, I could have helped but I helped him continue to do it in a way," She shrugged.

"Gabriella, you know you're talking shit," Chad shook his head, "Why did he walked off just now? He's been dying to speak to you for weeks."

Gabriella nodded, "He's texted me a couple of times and… well Rosie asked me to give him her number and he wouldn't have it and walked off."

Chad laughed loudly holding his stomach, "Well duh… he wanted you not long ago and now his life is a little fucked right now."

Gabriella grumbled, pressing her finger tips into her eyes gently, "I just need to forget about him. This winter vacation should be good to try and do that."

Chad shrugged, "If you wanna do that, sure."

Gabriella heard her friend's laugh not far away. Her friends darted into the hall way, it was easy to see into different areas of the apartment as it was so open plan. She pursed her naked lips as she saw Troy hunched over a little with his palm pressed flat against the wall, his mouth near her ear.

"I don't understand guys," Gabriella shook her head, "I'm gonna go," She said quietly.

"Gab," Chad frowned, shaking his head no.

The brunette beauty had gotten a nice black dress covered in different embellishments and done her makeup smoky all to impress Troy even though she was still a little annoyed at him.

"Have a good night, ok? And have a good Christmas if I don't see you before you leave," Gabriella smiled, reaching for him to give a hug.

Chad sighed, hugging her back and wished her a merry Christmas then she left the apartment.

Chad rubbed his forehead, "Troy Bolton, you dick," He groaned with an annoyed huff.

* * *

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas or just another amazing day if you don't celebrate it. Thank you for reading.


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